I’ll Just Have To Call It a Tie

Butterflies are so incredible in many ways and there are many reasons why. Let’s dig a little more into this fascinating creature. Butterflies are active in the nice hot day time and are different from their neighboring moth who is most likely found at night.

Let’s look at the wing structure and the amazing patterns on the wings. The wingspan on some butterflies is only 6mm, although most have a 10mm wingspan. The average butterfly’s wingspan is about 30mm. The moth’s wingspan on the other hand is about 4mm. They are usually much smaller. A butterfly’s wings are usually very colorful, while the moth’s are dull colors.

 

So how does a butterfly search for its food? The nectar channels of flowers allow butterflies to easily find the food they enjoy. Butterflies drink nectar using tube-like tongues. Did you know that butterflies can taste through their feet? Butterflies have small sensors that are on the back of their legs. The insect will step on its food to sense the tasty sugars. I’m sure glad humans don’t have to do that! The butterfly that I saw not too long ago was a beautiful monarch drinking nectar from the zinnias. Moths suck the juicy nectars from the flowers, too, just like the butterfly.

How fast can a butterfly go? Skipper butterflies fly so fast that they could outpace a horse at 37mph, but most butterflies fly at 5 to 12 miles per hour. I think that’s fast. Moths can reach speeds up to 35mph. That’s fast too, but not as fast as the butterfly.

A butterfly’s life cycle starts with an egg. It hatches into a larva, then becomes a pupa. Finally, it becomes a beautifully colored butterfly. I have seen butterflies in their chrysalis before. This is the pupa stage. Jonah got a see-through container where he had lots of butterfly caterpillars. It was about five to twenty days before they all hatched. After that, Jonah set every one of them free. Jonah has caught moths, but he has never kept them through all the stages. Moths make a cocoon that is silky unlike the butterfly’s smooth, hard chrysalis.

The butterfly’s amazing habits have always inspired me in many ways. The more I learn about these insects, the more I like them and their miraculous life-cycle. It’s hard to decide which one I like better between the moth and the butterfly, so as far as I’m concerned, I’ll just have to call it a tie.

~Unique